Stories of caregivers who foster personal transformation

In this episode of Faith And Reason 360 we are honored to welcome author, scholar, and scribe of the popular monthly newsletter “Connections,” Barbara Wendland.

Join us as Barbara discusses the need for a radical update of creed, attitude, and structure in the Christian church, whose practices, Wendland says, are outdated—and this behind-the-times attitude, though revered as traditional by many, comes at the expense of Church success. The world has changed dramatically since the 3rd century; is the Church ready to catch up?

President Trump has shocked the world with his announcements of imperial power to pardon himself or to command that the judiciary end investigations or dismiss a special counsel. However, he isn’t the first or the last head of state to lean towards tyranny. Though in times of instability and fear, the majority may long for a strong leader, history has shown us how dangerous it is to give away democracy. As I Samuel stated so well, Kings tend to be self-serving and we will always be sorry if we allow an imperial king to arise out of our apathy or indifference.

Pluralism challenges us to move beyond all four of these responses to the other. As Pete puts it, “… in a genuine encounter with the other, at first I see you as weird and monstrous.

Social change comes about when a prophet or a small prophetic community advocates for a change to the status quo. Ethics is never subject to majority vote but is, instead, sponsored by tiny minorities who are willing to speak truth to power. Therefore, progressive churches will never be mega churches and very few large churches will ever offer substantive challenge to popular society. Those who are willing to do the work of a prophet must be willing to pay the price of being ignored, derided, even fought, but if your cause is right, time is on your side.

Official music video for “Up There” from the album “The Fruitful Darkness” releasing June 1, 2018.

Last week, a group of Progressive Christian leaders (including “Royal Wedding” homilist, Bishop Michael Curry, and Fr. Richard Rohr) lead a candlelight vigil and protest in front of the White House, expressing their concerns about the moral state of our nation.

Watch as Rev. Salvatore Sapienza, pastor of Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ, talks about how the Christian Left is “Reclaiming Jesus.”

Robert O’Sullivan homily at Brookings, OR Ecumenical Observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Death of MLK

The length of life does not determine its meaning. If there is an afterlife, nothing can be known about it, but the life we know with certainty calls us to live with integrity and nobility. Maya Angelou’s poem, “When Great Trees Fall,” movingly describes how we are affected by the death of those who have inspired us and shaped our lives. Remembering them is, perhaps, their real hope of an afterlife.

It is true that most people don’t change much but change is possible. Former soldiers in Lebanon’s civil war are now peace advocates in Syria. Former right-wing evangelicals are now reconsidering what it means for them to finally have their “dream president,” and wondering if they should not dream bigger. The legacy of the strangle hold that evangelical Christianity has had on the American government has been painfully revealed in the poorly thought out move of our embassy to Jerusalem, resulting in a protest that left 58 Palestinian protestors dead. It is time for the Christian faith to change, to become more aware of other faiths, other people, and of greater compassion.

This sermon was preached in 2015 upon my return from Belfast. I went off script for this one. So, the manuscript does not adequately reflect what was actually preached. I went off on a tangent using Robin Meyers’ observation that our historical creeds reduce Jesus life to a comma!

Ten years ago, former nightclub promoter Scott Harrison set out to solve the water crisis in his lifetime.

Today, more than one million people have made it their mission too. This is all of our story.

Though Bill Cosby was convicted on several charges of sexual assault, he did not show remorse or apologize to his victims. Consider in contrast, the heart-felt apology offered by Joy Reid when old homophobic blog posts of hers recently surfaced. She asked a panel of LGBTQ professionals to publicly take her to task on her own show, a painful but honest moment in journalism.

Best-selling author Marcus Borg, Professor in Religion and Culture, uses a interdisciplinary approach to examine the role and importance of religions and religious pluralism in contemporary life in this presentation at UCSD. [3/2002]

Robin Myers Interview – What does a thriving Christian community look like to you?

Once a religion is distilled into a creed, a book books of doctrine, or even shared holy writ, it becomes a religion of beliefs rooted in the past. A living faith takes in new information and experience and continues to grow and evolve. Ultimately, we are seeking a faith that moves beyond belief and becomes expressed in meaningful action.

Fascism, A Warning, Madeline Albright’s new book, asks us to seriously consider how many familiar elements of the growth of fascism in 20th century Europe are now evident in 21st century America. This is a sobering matter that demands that spiritual people to take it seriously. Bonhoeffer wrote in his letters from prison that stupidity made it possible for fascism to rise in Germany but isn’t it really complacency? And though Russia meddle in the American election in 2016, they did not hack our voting machines, they just appealed to our fear and racism and that was enough to alter the course of an election and of history. It is time for us to decide that we are “not with stupid anymore.”

The author of Acts describes (in the form of early church propaganda) an almost utopian beginning of the church. Of course, Luke was not there, and his musings are more imagination than history, but he gives voice to a vision that many of us have shared: the good community where everyone shares their belongings, and everyone has what they need. Like ghosts, everyone talks about an egalitarian society but few of us have ever seen it work for more than a flash in history. Still, we know that our present economic system is doomed to failure and something much more fair must emerge.